Cybersecurity bill: Why senator is taking his case straight to top CEOs

Seeking to overcome opposition from the US Chamber of Commerce and other business groups to a cybersecurity bill, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D) of West Virginia took the unusual step Wednesday of writing the CEOs of the 500 largest US companies to request their views on cybersecurity and the legislation aimed at protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure from computer attacks.

Senator Rockefeller wrote a day after two other Senate Democrats, Chris Coons of Delaware and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, wrote a joint letter to President Obama calling on him to issue an executive order aimed at protecting critical infrastructure from cyberattack. Rockefeller and Sen. Diane Feinstein (D) of California also have called for presidential action.

Speculation that the president might be weighing such an order emerged less than a week after the Senate on Aug. 2 failed to pass cybersecurity legislation, effectively filibustering the bill by falling short (52-46) of the 60 votes needed to cut off debate.

Frustration has grown on Capitol Hill, in no small part due to explicit warnings about the growing cyberthreat from the nation's top military leaders, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, who also leads the Pentagon's new US Cyber Command.

"The cyberthreat is real and demands immediate action," General Alexander wrote in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in late July. "The time to act is now; we simply cannot afford further delay."

Recipients of Rockefeller’s letter included Virginia Rometty, CEO of IBM, as well as the chiefs of ExxonMobil, Wal-Mart, General Electric, Ford and big utility companies. But the mailing list also sent it to many company chieftans whose cybernetworks are unlikely to be vital to the nation's welfare.

While Rockefeller has in the past polled small groups of businesses, it was apparently the first time detailed views on this subject were being requested en masse. Responses to such letters are purely voluntary, but usually receive thoughtful replies, according to a spokesman for the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation committee where Rockefeller serves as chairman.

Rockefeller's letter appeared aimed at building an independent assessment of business viewpoints that might defuse lobbying that many blamed for the failed vote.

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